I Won't Grow Up!

“All children, except one, grow up.” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

We do not have a preschooler this year with the name Peter Pan so it looks like some day they all will grow up.  Therefore, with that in mind, we decided to talk about all the wonderful things our young pirates can one day try to become.  

Knowing all children grow up, it made perfect sense we watched one of our pirates turn another year older this week!  She brought us treats in the morning and the morning preschool class enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday!"


We played dress up games and the preschoolers showed us they wanted to be teachers, fire fighters, knights, Spiderman, princesses, doctors, chefs, nurses and ninjas.  After we heard from them, we showed them some careers in the medical field.  
First we had some morning preschoolers put on the human body vest and the 'doctors' placed the organs on the vest like a giant puzzle. 

After that, a crowd favorite come out as the preschoolers built a person using x-rays and toy bones.  They took turns laying on the ground as their peers tried to figure out which bones went where.



In the morning we also tried out construction worker and engineer jobs to build homes, towers, castles, etc.  Then, we practiced parent roles as we went to the store, then took on the roles of store clerks too.

 We also played a relay game to practice getting dressed in the career wardrobe of our choice, like artist, firefighter, construction worker, etc. The first person in line would head down to the costume area, put one on then run back to the next person in line and tag his/her hand to go do the same thing.  

We also played a memory game as the preschoolers had to match a career with the tools the person needs for that career.  (Hammer with a construction worker, stethoscope with a doctor, etc.)





 The afternoon had a special guest speaker come to visit!  Our school nurse came and not only talked about what she does as the school nurse (help people who don't feel well) but she also showed them how she was going to check their vision and hearing.  

She allowed some of our preschoolers to become her special helpers and one was the 'patient' and one was the 'doctor' as they demonstrated for the class how the vision and hearing screenings would go.  

We still have a few afternoon preschoolers who have not been screened due to absences, We will try to make those up with those children as soon as possible in the nurse's office. Just like in the morning session last semester, if there are any 'red flags' we will contact you.

 The morning preschool had a special guest this week too!  We had a police officer come in to talk about his job and how preschoolers can help him keep them safe.  


He talked about 911 and even showed us pictures of the Palatine Police Dog Elvis and told us about his job with the department too.  He will be coming to see the afternoon preschoolers next week when we talk about safety.

In the afternoon we counted various careers and practiced writing numbers with the people in their uniforms.  

One thing to keep in mind at home is that practicing writing numbers is a skill that needs to be practiced just like writing letters.  
Most of the time, we see preschoolers who can recognize and write some letters but no numbers, just like they can pour glue but not know how to cut with scissors.  


All four skills should be practiced at home and remember you don't need to use paper and pencil to practice them.  As in other blog posts, if you are not the paper/pencil type of parent, using shaving cream, paint in a bag, trays of rice or sand all work to build the skills needed for writing.

Some of the music we played this week (as musicians) was with rhythm sticks in the circle as well as our usual songs.  The rhythm sticks are great for teaching how to follow directions and to help the kids listen for patterns and repeat them, then create their own.  If you don't have these sticks at home, no worries! Silverware at dinner, chop sticks (you can usually get for free with dinner) or just sticks or toys while playing outside all work just as wonderfully!

Science is one of the best topics we cover each day and this week it blew our minds!  While practicing to be scientists, we made lava lamps!  



We just poured water, olive oil and watercolor paint (or food coloring) in the jar then we dropped 1/2 an Alka-seltzer tablet in the jar, placed the lids on them and watched the colored oil bounce up and down just like in those heated lamps you might have in the attic someplace.  

The children asked what would happen if we shook the jars (questioning like any good scientist) so we took turns shaking them to see what colors mixed with yellow would do.  Blue and yellow make green!



 In the afternoon, we layered a RAINBOW INDOORS as we used dark Karo syrup, water, vinegar, vegetable oil, Dawn soap and more to construct this amazing rainbow in a vase.  If you have ever gotten flowers from a floral shop, you probably have extra clear vases you aren't super attached to.  If so, they are PERFECT for making things like this!

Some people are professional storytellers and we had some award winning storytellers tell us a story about Corduroy and his time inside the department store.  

We also heard about careers with the police department, the dentist, as well as being a parent (a tough career itself!)

When we practiced writing this week, we changed up the letter of the day for some preschoolers as they made an Umbrella out of the letter "U".  

We made books about various careers and were able to practice tracing letters as well as talking about and 'reading' the books we made with each other.  

We matched pictures with words to practice reading as a game as well as cutting out the various pictures and tools to bring home to explain to parents.

We rounded out the week with picturing ourselves in the future, both with our imaginations and on paper.  We were quizzed on what parts of a uniform go with which career then had to "drive" to that career to get their uniform.  

After that, we were given paper people and pictures of us to create ourselves in the future in whatever job we wanted!

What's Coming Up?

Next week is a TWO DAY WEEK as we only have preschool on Monday and Wednesday due to an Institute and Spring Holiday.  We will be talking about safety for those two days.  

The following week will be another two day week as we will not have preschool on Wednesday due to State testing for high-schoolers.

Picture day is Monday, April 14th with the make up day on the 16th.  Remember we will do our class photo on Monday the 14th.  Everyone will get these photos at Graduation.